Realistic Weight Loss: What to Actually Expect

What Are Realistic Expectations For Weight Loss With Medical Treatments?

Forget miracle solutions and overnight transformations—we're getting real about medical weight loss in this eye-opening episode. Licensed nutritionist Catina Wilson breaks down exactly what you can (and should) expect when embarking on a medical weight loss journey: one to one and a half pounds per week, amounting to about 5-10% of your starting weight over several months.

While these numbers might sound modest compared to flashy fad diet promises, they represent sustainable progress that won't disappear the moment you stop treatment. The difference lies in approach—medical weight loss combines effective medications with critical lifestyle changes, nutrition guidance, and behavior modification to create lasting results. As Catina emphasizes, "The medications are tools, not miracle drugs," designed to support your efforts rather than replace them.

Perhaps most valuable is our discussion of "non-scale victories"—those powerful changes that happen regardless of what the bathroom scale shows. Better sleep, improved digestion, reduced medication needs, increased energy, and clothing that fits better can all signal progress even during weight plateaus. We share a recent case where a client experienced minimal weight change but significant inch loss, demonstrating why body composition matters more than pounds. The 80-20 rule of weight management (80% nutrition, 20% exercise) illustrates why you "can't out-exercise a bad diet" and why nutritional guidance remains central to our approach. Many clients even report that medications help recalibrate their taste preferences toward healthier foods—a remarkable benefit for long-term success.

Ready to begin your own transformation journey with realistic expectations and comprehensive support? Visit Atlwellnessclinic.com or call us for a free weight loss consultation—because sustainable change starts with understanding what's really possible.

To learn more about Atlanta Wellness Clinic visit:
https://www.ATLWellnessClinic.com
Atlanta Wellness Clinic
1827 Powers Ferry Rd. SE, Bldg 1 STE 250
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
770-726-8978

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Atlanta Wellness Clinic podcast
Hosted by licensed nutritionistand clinic owner, katina Wilson.
We're here to kickstart yourweight loss journey Because,
let's be honest, the only thingwe want gaining weight is our
wallets.
From medical weight loss andnutrition coaching to body
contouring, we help MetroAtlanta women get real results.

(00:24):
Let's dive in.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Medical weight loss can be life changing, but what
results should you realisticallyexpect and how fast?
Let's set the record straight.
Welcome back everyone Millie M,co-host and producer, back in
the studio with licensednutritionist and clinic owner,
katina Wilson.
How are you, katina?
I'm great.
How are you Doing quite well?
Thank you so much.
Everyone listening wants toknow what are realistic

(00:54):
expectations for weight losswith medical treatments.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yeah, I think that is such an important question.
Having realistic expectationsis critically important.
The reason is because when youdon't have the right
expectations and you miss out onthose expectations, you tend to
get discouraged, and I thinkyou have to think about it.
Reality is, the weight didn'thappen overnight, so it's
certainly not going to drop offovernight.

(01:18):
For most people, one to one anda half pounds per week is best
when it comes to a realisticexpectation.
That equates to about five to10% of your starting weight over
a three to six month period.
You know, I think about like myown journey when I was losing
weight, you know, a pound a week.
It just sounded like, oh mygosh, it's going to take forever

(01:39):
, but before I knew it I was at25 pounds.
And so, you know, once thosenumbers start to add up, it can
really start to not onlymotivate you but you start to
really feel good about yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, how do medical weight loss treatments differ
from like fad diets or extremeweight loss programs?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, great question.
I think a lot of times whenyou're talking kind of fad diets
, you lose the weight prettyquickly, but most of the time
that's probably like waterweight, so you can lose it
quickly, but a lot of times youcan also gain it back and gain
it back even more.
Many of those programs, again,they focus on losing the weight
quickly, so your body kind ofgoes into starvation mode.

(02:16):
Once you start going back tothose normal habits that you had
before, you're going to end upgaining a lot of it back, if not
all of it, and sometimes more.
One of the things that we tryto emphasize here at the Atlanta
Wellness Clinic is rememberthese medications.
It's a tool.
Right, they're miracle drugs,for sure, but it is a tool.
And so, as you're going throughthat journey, we're encouraging

(02:38):
you with meal plans,encouraging you to exercise,
encouraging you to drink thewater.
It is important that you'redoing all of those things, that
you're really learning thosereally good healthy habits so
that once you're off themedications now those healthy
habits have been instilled and,I think, beyond a number on the
scale.
I think one of the things that Ialso try to emphasize is what I

(03:00):
like to call non-scalevictories.
There are times during yourweight loss journey that the
number on the scale may not evenbe moving.
However, let's look atnon-scale victories.
How are you sleeping?
Most people who are losingweight, they start to sleep
better.
How's your digestion?
Most people who are losingweight, they're not having the
same digestive issues that theywere having before.
Again, I know when I look at myown journey, scale didn't move

(03:24):
for about a month, month and ahalf, but I was actually losing
inches, so the clothes werefitting better, I was starting
to feel better, I was startingto look better.
There's a number of factorsthat can keep the numbers on the
scale from actually moving.
So, instead of just looking atthe numbers on the scale, also
look at the non-scale victoriesas well.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And that's how you help your clients stay motivated
when they see that progressslowing down.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Oh, absolutely.
We literally just had somebodyleave the clinic a few minutes
ago.
They didn't lose much weightover this last month, but when
we looked at their inches lossthey even said my clothes are
fitting better.
We did a quick body scan and weactually showed not only did
they lose just a few pounds, butthey lost significant amount of
inches over the last 30 days orso.
So again, that can be equallyas motivating as a number on the

(04:09):
scale.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Can't wait to talk about those body scans.
So what other health benefitsdo patients typically notice
during their weight loss journey?

Speaker 3 (04:18):
As I mentioned, the non-scale victories sleeping,
better, digestion inches lossFor people who are on
medications, whether it'scholesterol medications or high
blood pressure medications fiveto 10% weight loss for a lot of
people.
They start to see the amount ofmedication that they're taking
come down If being completelytaken off those medications
altogether.
Five to 10% weight loss can bedramatic for a lot of people.

(04:43):
I would imagine.
More energy too?
Oh, absolutely, absolutely, ofcourse.
Of course You're feeling betterand you're wanting to do more,
and a lot of times what peoplefind and again I can even look
at my own personal journeybecause I had the energy level,
because I was feeling better,you know it motivated me to want
to exercise more.
So now I'm getting outside more, getting to the gym more, doing

(05:03):
those kinds of things, becausenow it's a little bit easier,
because you're carrying less ofa load.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
For sure, for sure.
And I noticed even with myselfgoing to the gym almost makes me
want to go to the gym more,where, even if I've missed a
couple of days, my body will belike craving it almost like, oh,
you haven't exercised in awhile, it's time to get back at
it.
So you'll feel like you'remissing something when you
haven't had that exercise.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Oh, that is such an excellent point and I tell
people all the time.
You know, sometimes justgetting to the gym is really a
matter of just doing it, even ifit's just 10 minutes.
Just go like five, 10 minutesand you really start to feel
better because it releasesendorphins.
Right, it just releases thoseendorphins, you start to feel
good and again you sleep better.

(05:51):
You know, and you just start tofeel better.
And I know, for me, when Idon't do it, I find my stress
levels are a little bit higher.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
But when I do it, I'm just an all around better
person to probably be around andI just feel better, absolutely.
Let's talk about nutritionreally quickly.
How important is nutrition andlifestyle coaching alongside the
medical treatments forlong-term success?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, when it comes to losing weight, you can't out
exercise a bad diet.
You just really can't.
I mean, you think about that400 calorie candy bar.
How long do you have to run tohit 400 calories?
How long do you have to docardio or whatever to remove
that?
So it really starts with what'son your plate, what's on your
fork, what you take in.
That's where we see the mostweight loss.

(06:26):
So it's really kind of an 80-20rule 80% what your nutrition
habits look like, versus maybe20% or so of the actual exercise
.
Many personal trainers will tellyou the same Again you just
cannot out-exercise a bad diet.
And so, again, the medicalweight loss.
It helps, it provides a tool.
It doesn't give you leeway tocontinue to eat those Reese cups

(06:47):
which, by the way, are myfavorite.
You know to do those kinds ofthings but again, you use it as
an opportunity to build thosereally good nutrition habits and
build some better habits and tostart getting comfortable
eating healthier foods.
And what's interesting alsoabout the medication too and we
hear this from a lot of patientsis it actually starts to train
them in a way or signal to theirbrain that you know what that

(07:08):
sweet thing or that bad fooddoesn't really taste good
anymore.
We actually have a client whosays she now craves salads.
Right, you know, we're used tohearing people crave the chips
and the candies and the otherprocessed foods, but to now want
to start to crave somethinghealthy, you know, I do think
that's a good side effect of themedication.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
That's a beautiful thing.
It's limitless.
You can eat as much of it asyou want.
You eat as many.
You know apples and oranges andyou know those fruits and those
vegetables.
You don't have to limityourself to how much you can eat
because you're getting thosenutrients.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, and the one thing I just want to clarify
with something that you justsaid low fat and no fat is not
necessarily equate to like agood thing.
There are healthy fats outthere, right, and we do
encourage people to eat thosehealthy fats Like I love avocado
and nuts and things like thatbecause it's healthy and,
honestly, you feel better,because you feel full longer,
you feel more satisfied thanjust simply eating an apple.

(08:03):
It is important to make surethat, as you're heading down
your path to improve nutrition,that you include some healthy
fats in there as well.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Well, thank you for pointing that out.
I can't wait to talk to you onour next episode.
Have a great one, katina.
All right, thank you, millie.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Bye.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Atlanta Wellness
Clinic podcast.
If you're ready to kickstartyour weight loss journey, and
not just your bathroom scale andfrustration, visit
atlwellnesscliniccom or call usat 770-726-8978 for a free
10-minute weight lossconsultation, because the best

(08:45):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time Right now.
See you next time.